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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141011">The Difference Between Accident and Mistake</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerRoses0612/pseuds/SummerRoses0612'>SummerRoses0612</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arrow (TV 2012)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Assumptions, Because Slade is a major character, Bratva Oliver Queen, Breaking down, Burned Bridges, But he's ok, Character Death, DO NOT COPY, F/M, Healing, Hysterical Meltdown, I use that tag a lot, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Manipulative Moira Queen, Mention of PTSD Panic Attack, Mentions of Murder, Misunderstandings, Oliver Queen Has PTSD, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Power Play, Protective Slade, Protective Thea Queen, Protective Tommy Merlyn, Rape/Non-con Elements, Thea Queen is a Good Bro, Tommy Merlyn Lives, do not copy to another site, kind of?, mentioned rough sex, tommy is a good bro</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:41:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,374</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28141011</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerRoses0612/pseuds/SummerRoses0612</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After coming back from the island Oliver's doctor shares medical information with his mother without permission... What happens when Moira makes assumptions?</p><p>Or</p><p>The one where Slade and Oliver were together on the island and Moira tells everyone important medical information that the doctor shouldn't have told her in the first place.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Moira Queen/Walter Steele, Oliver Queen/Slade Wilson, past Moira Queen/Robert Queen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>104</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>DISCLAIMER: I don't own Arrow or anything else to do with it.</p><p>Warning- This story has: Rape/non-con elements, misunderstandings, assumptions</p><p>Don't read if anything like this triggers you.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's easy to just conform to what others want you to be. It's much harder to put yourself out there where it's scary and you're vulnerable. That being said, Oliver only ever acted as was expected of him. What nobody but his closest friend, Tommy Merlyn, ever knew was that he was smart. He was a great actor and amazing at reading people. Before the island it let him blend in, let him be whoever was easy. After the island and with a hardened edge that was never there before, it made him dangerous.</p><p>Even though he had been around people for the past two years, it was difficult to be back. He was never himself before, it was just an audition for an acting role he never got to learn the ending of. He was just standing by the window in the hospital and watching the city move, so different than Russia or Japan and yet similar in the way that only living somewhere several years ever is. He was tense, focusing almost all his energy on making himself look at ease and keeping an ear on any conversation he could hear. He had left the door open a crack for this exact purpose and, it made something in him loosen to know that he wouldn't be taken unaware. </p><p>He heard his mother's heels from down the hall, the noise familiar but not as comforting as it used to be. The doctor was waiting for her by the door. They exchanged shallow small talk before the doctor started sharing everything he knew about Oliver with no regard to doctor-patient confidentiality. The castaway just clenched his jaw until it hurt then let go, wanting to focus to hear what the doctor was telling his manipulative mother.</p><p>"20% of his body is covered in scar tissue, second degree burns on his back and arms. X-rays show at least 12 fractures that never properly healed." The doctor started, hesitating before calming his thoughts and continuing on "There is also signs of repeated and agressive rape spanning back at the least 5 years."</p><p>Moira just gave a small gasp, turning back to the doctor and therefore not noticing the look in Oliver's eyes. The look said that strangling the doctor would be a good idea and, just barely remembering himself, half his brain said that it would be too hard to get away with. The other half was snickering over what Slade would think if he could have heard it. </p><p><em>I told ya you'd never forget I was there.</em> A distinctly Australian accent said in his head, Oliver just tuned back into the conversation, not ready to deal with the fact that he would never see the mercenary again. </p><p>"Has he said anything about what happened?" The mother said, voice even and no sign of turmoil in her voice. </p><p>"No, he's barely said anything... Moira, I'd like for you to prepare yourself." The doctor said, dramatically pausing like a scene from a movie. "The Oliver that you lost might not be the one that they found." He then turned and walked away, having said his piece.</p><p>Moira took another second to watch her son through the window before pushing open the door, not realizing that the door had been open enough for Oliver to hear them talking. </p><p>The reunion went exactly as planned, mother thinking that she finally had her son back and Oliver wonder how he had never caught how fake she acted before.</p><p>
  <em>It wasn't that she didn't care, it was that she didn't know how to deal with people any other way than manipulation. </em>
</p><p>He got into the car, sitting quietly through the drive and setting up the phone that she had gotten him, having taken out the tracker and removed the monitoring program within the first twenty minutes. Once they got to the mansion Oliver grabbed all his own things and quickly put them into his room, taking a minute to look around and acknowledge the fact that he was finally back in Starling City after so long. </p><p>They have dinner, Oliver having clocked onto the fact that Walter and Moira were married in the first five minutes of them being in the same room together. He talked with Raisa, speaking the Russian dialect that he had grown up learning with her, soothing in a way that a mother was expected to be.</p><p>He went to bed early, knowing he was probably going to wake up to the same awkward expectant faces of the people who habitually believed that he would open up to them and tell them everything even though he didn't even know them anymore and making no effort to remedy that. Tommy, Thea, and Raisa had though, already endeavoring to make sure they were as close now as they were before. </p><p>Nothing went how he thought it would.</p><p>He woke up to Walter walking on eggshells around him, Thea making too much of an effort to appear normal for it to be anything but plastic, Raisa had made his favorite breakfast and Moira was pretending that everything was completely fine even though he could see her wincing everytime Thea got too enthusiastic in her role of 'everything's fine'. When Tommy came over and was acting that much more delicate with him than the day before he had enough. </p><p>"May I be excused?" He asked, his table manners so rusty that he was already halfway out of the room before he realized his mistake. Moira just nodded, nobody moving until the door was closed behind him. </p><p>He stayed behind the door, closing his eyes in dread as he had already figured what had probably sparked this new gentle handling. </p><p>"Thank you, Tommy, for coming." The ever polite mother said, heaviness in her tone that hadn't been there before. "Sweetheart, I know that I told you to be more careful with him after I told you what the doctor said but I'll bet he knew something was wrong just by the way that you were acting. Don't try so hard baby, just get to know him again and hope that he's ready to talk about it when we try to talk to him in a couple weeks."</p><p>She got nods from everyone at the table and, by the time Thea and Tommy made it to the door to go find Oliver he was already in his room. He changed quickly, only years of having to be graceful or risk death stopping any noise. All his clothes were on properly and he was watching TV in his bed by the time they knocked on the door. </p><p>Weeks went by, Tommy and Thea relaxing around him once they realized that a joke wasn't going to break him. After a month a half, more time than Oliver thought his mother would give him and 6 weeks of Arrowing under his belt, Moira asked him to come to the living room. </p><p>Everything was set up confrontation style but, despite the fact that he could see his mother's chosen technique was to ambush him, he was just angry that she had made everything harder than it had to be. Tommy, Thea, Walter, and his mother were all on one couch, leaving Oliver the opposite one. </p><p>"Oliver, when you were released to me Doctor Wu told me about all of your injuries, the most concerning of them the signs of rape. I took the initiative to tell the people here to make sure that we didn't do anything to trigger you. We just want you to know that you can talk to us if you need to." Moira said, nodding slightly to herself at the way that the words sounded outside of her head. </p><p>Tommy and Thea both winced at the direct way that the woman had put it and Walter tried to look supportive, despite barely knowing Oliver and aware that he probably shouldn't be included in the conversation but, his wife had asked so he had said yes. Oliver just leaned back, total relaxed and vindictively reveling in the flash of unease in his mother's eyes. </p><p>"When I first got to the island I was shot with an arrow by a man called Yao Fei Gulong." The archer started, surprising most everyone with his perfect Chinese accent. Seeing this he decided to let his accent go completely, Chinese, Australian, American, Italian, and Russian blending beautifully on his tongue. "He taught me how to survive." </p><p>He chuckled at the realization in Moira's eye. She knew he knew everything she did and, seeing that he was ready to tell all she just waved him on. Only Tommy noticed the exchange over the shock at Oliver's accent, and instantly had an idea of how this was going to go. Oliver, having perfected silent talking with Tommy even before the island looked at him.</p><p>
  <em>Sorry I never told you, I was waiting for her to force my hand. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>It's ok, I was always willing to wait, Ollie.</em>
</p><p>"Then, with my inexperience, I got us captured by the enemies on the island. You see, it was called Lian Yu or Purgatory. It was a prison and also known to have been the last place the submarine carrying the wartime drug Marukuru on board was seen before it sank. They tortured me and leveraged him to help them." </p><p>"Show me" His mother said, knowing when she had been beat but still wanting to know as much as he would let her.</p><p>He just took of his shirt, Tommy the only one recognizing the Bratva Captain tattoo for what it was. </p><p>"Then he took a chance and, instead of killing me, he used a joint on my neck that stopped my pulse, he threw me over a cliff with water under it and hit the joint again to restart my heart. There was a map in my pocket, 'Shēngcún', survive and a path to an abandoned crashed airplane." </p><p>Oliver put his shirt back on, ignoring the way Thea had her mouth covered in abject horror and Walter's rapid paling. Tommy was just paying attention, used to having to read between the lines with his brother and very knowledgeable in the delicate power play being made. </p><p>"I met Slade there. Australian mercenary and the partner to the man that had tortured me. I found out that the guy was an asshole and had trust issues a mile wide because it turns out that Billy, as I came to know him by later, betrayed him too. He pushed me hard, taught me everything I would need to get off the island and, when we helped Yao Fei to finally make his way back he was accompanied by his daughter and everything made much more sense. They had had his daughter for years, Yao Fei was their prisoner then had refused to obey them and instead escaped. Slade taught me Maori and Italian Yao Fei taught me Chinese and they both combined their efforts to pound Russian into my head. Yao Fei taught me how to use a bow, making me be good enough to beat him and Slade both. "</p><p>Only Oliver probably noticed but Tommy gave a nearly silent gasp as the realization that his brother was the Hood guy. Oliver just discretely nodded to him. </p><p>"A year later Slade and I got together. The last time I saw him I killed him because they drugged him with Mirakuru and he begged me to." </p><p>Tommy just got up and sat next to Oliver, hugging him and supporting him the best he could at the silent agony he could hear in his forever friend's voice.</p><p>"I was picked up by a shady government organization and blackmailed into joining yet another camp on the island. I did their jobs, it took me to Japan, China, and here. I got a look at all of you and, after making sure you were ok, continued on with my assignments. When they finally let me go I had made a name for myself 'The Hood'." </p><p>Everyone in the room besides Tommy gasped, finally getting more of the full picture of his capabilities.</p><p>"I had saved a member of the Bratva and met back up with him in Russia. They made me a Captain along with him after I passed their..... entrance exam."</p><p>Oliver finally leaned forwards, ready to give the final blow that would burn the tentative bridge his mother had been trying to build.</p><p>"I was never raped, I just like it rough and there really wasn't much in the way of lube on the island. Slade would have made a lewd comment about how I definitely wouldn't forget him now and I would have laughed because that is the kind of personality I have." </p><p>Moira just nodded, accepting that she had effectively ruined their relationship while Tommy and Thea laughed, loving to hear more about the man that made their brother smile like a loon in a way Laurel never could. </p><p>The married couple left, leaving just the siblings. </p><p>Oliver just broke down in Tommy's arms, tired of being strong and the reminder of the man he still loves with everything in him, just too much. </p><p>Thea guided them to her room, they all laid on the bed cuddling Oliver and never letting him go as he fell apart. </p><p>They talk for the entire night, Oliver telling stories of the adventures he had been through, Thea and Tommy telling him everything and nothing until they were closer than they had ever been before. They fell asleep wrapped up in each other, when the archer had a nightmare his siblings just soothed him until he could sleep again. </p><p>He slept better than he had since he was next to Slade and felt more connected to the people he loved most than he had in over five years.</p><p>He was broken and scarred but he had pieced himself back together before, he could do it again. </p><p>He dreamed of Maori words and huge, calloused hands keeping him safe.</p><p>He would be okay, time and his siblings all that he needed.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>I'm trying to try different fandoms, let me know if you have one you'd like me to try. I have another chapter for this one already planned but input is always welcomed. -Rose</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. When the Dead Comes Knocking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Slade was the Australian accent in his voice and heavy hands but he was also dead. He was everything and then gone and Oliver is just barely wrapping his head around the fact that he'll never see him again when the door rings.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>DISCLAIMER: I don't own Arrow or anything else.</p><p>Warning- This discusses rape/non-con but nothing like that ever has or will happen to these characters, Oliver is a bit manipulative but he learned it from his mother. </p><p>Don't read if any of this can be triggering for you.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The doorbell ringing wasn't exactly rare but, given the time of night it was odd. Oliver, Tommy, and Thea had been watching a movie from the list the two had come up with to catch the archer up on pop culture. Oliver gave the door a cautious look and signaled for his siblings to stay behind him. They listened and stood in the doorway as Oliver opened the door and promptly, literally almost fell down in his shock.</p><p>"Slade?" He asked bordering on hysterically, causing Tommy and Thea to come closer. </p><p>At the door was a large man, about 6'5" to Oliver's 6' flat. He was dark; chocolate eyes and hair so dark brown it almost looked black, he had an eyepatch. Looking to his siblings and seeing their shock and recognition from his description of Slade he looked back to the door. </p><p>"No. No. You're dead! Like Ivo and Shado, I killed you! Fuck I'm losing my fucking mind." Oliver said, babble getting faster as he kept talking.</p><p>"Oh, a<span>ue te ipo" He said wrapping the smaller man up in his arms.</span></p><p>
  <span>Heartbreaking sobs muffled in his neck as Oliver fell apart all over again at the sound of his voice. The siblings, seeing that this was the person who had saved their brother just went upstairs to give them some privacy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But you.... I killed you!" The archer just repeated, desperate for something to anchor him as he hyperventilated himself into a panic attack.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're okay, you didn't kill me. I'm right here aue te ipo. I'm not going anywhere." The Aussie just kept repeating into Oliver's hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he started to feel the smaller man in his arms calm he picked him up, cradling him like he was something special and gently petting his hair like he used to at a particularly bad storm. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*Flashback*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They had only met a couple weeks ago but Slade had already found himself attached to the cheeky boy Yao Fei sent to his plane. There was a strong storm that night, the first since the kid had apparently washed up on the island. They were about 10 feet apart on seperate sleeping mats and trying to fall asleep. The fire had been put out a long time ago and Slade was just about asleep when a terrified sound came from the other side of the plane. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He looked up in alarm, meeting the hazy, desperate, eyes of the kid. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>'PTSD' He instantly thought, remembering the last time he had seen someone's eyes look like that. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Cursing as he remembered that he was a survivor of his boat sinking with him on it during a storm he got up. He brought his blanket with him and got in behind the kid, holding him securely underneath him and stroking his hair as the castaway slowly stopped shaking, awareness coming back to his eyes. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Thanks." The kid said, not even making an effort to move, if anything trying to get closer to the warm, steady body next to him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"I need you at your best tomorrow and PTSD panic attacks aren't going to get you at your best." The Aussie said, making an effort to make sure the boy understood what had just happened to him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The simple resignation in the kid's eyes told him he had already known he had PTSD and had been in at least one storm since so he had known what would happen. Giving the boy underneath him a nod he cuddled up behind him again, just holding him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He fell asleep and woke with the sun along with the kid; the look of him soft and sleepy making the Aussie want more. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>'You're just horny from not having sex for a while... Don't get attached, don't get attached, don't get attached.' the taller man thought, hoping to God that the kid wasn't going to do something supremely stupid so he didn't have to evaluate his feelings for the kid. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>'He was never going to get away from this unattached', The mercenary thought later after noticing too much to not have been subconsciously focusing on him. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They got together a couple months later and the Australian never looked back.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*Flashback end*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>When Oliver came back to himself he was wrapped in Slade's arms in his own bed, the position intimately familiar but the location giving him pause. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before he turned, ready for it to have just been a hallucination and expecting to break all over again. Seeing the dark eyes of the man he loved behind him made him let out a soft sob. Slade just wordlessly held him tighter, helping him pick up the pieces just like the last time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They talked until their voices were hoarse and they couldn't anymore, not leaving except to get food to stock the mini fridge. They talked for days, sleeping and just basking in being together again. </span>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <span>****THE DIFFERENCE****</span>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <span>"I would like you to meet my siblings, Tommy and Thea." Oliver introduced with a sappy smile a week later, finally out of their self-imposed exile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tommy quickly catalogued the distinct 'I just got laid' look the mercenary was sporting and the limp Oliver had and promptly decided that it was none of his business. The Aussie just smiled at them, the four talking all through dinner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He said that he would be ok and he was right, a weight off his shoulders with his love back he hadn't realized he had been carrying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other siblings noticed that the archer looked lighter than they had ever seen him and, seeing the effect Slade had on him promised themselves to do anything to keep them together while they were happy.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>I could stand to add a sex scene to this, let me know if that's something that you would like to see. Comments, prompts, kudos, etc. are always welcome! -Rose</em>
</p>
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